The present invention relates to a novel entertainment system for motor vehicles, especially for ground transportation. More particularly, the present invention relates to an entertainment system that is integrated into the vehicle's radio system, preferably a stereo radio system. It may be retrofitted to an existing stereo radio system, or it may be installed as a unit with the radio/cassette/CD system when the vehicle is being assembled.
It was probably not long after the automobile was invented that people began to sing as they drove along. Early in the twentieth century, one composer was inspired to write "In My Merry Oldsmobile". However, singing a capella left much to be desired. Enter the radio, which provided accompaniment for the singing, but left one at the mercy of the radio station's disk jockey as to the choice and timing of the selections he played. Later came cassette and CD players integrated into the vehicle's radio system that allowed one to choose a recorded song to sing along with. Again, something was missing. The voices and the music could not be amplified, adjusted and mixed together in a professional, pleasing manner.
Karaoke systems are known, e.g., from U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,250,747; 5,454,723; 5,473,106; 5,484,291; 5,518,408; 5,609,486; 5,679,911; 5,684,261; 5,739,452; and 5,811,708. Karaoke systems allow the voices and the music to be amplified, adjusted and mixed together in a professional, pleasing manner. Generally, these karaoke systems are large bulky systems that run on house current and are not easily portable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,633 describes a chamber in a backrest assembly that may contain a karaoke. U.S. Pat. No. 4,866,515 describes an individual entertainment system installed in each seatback of an airplane with entertainment signals transmitted from a central unit to each individual entertainment system.
However, there are no known integrated systems that provide karaoke accompaniment in a motor vehicle.
An entertainment system for a motor vehicle in accordance with the invention would be highly desirable for anyone embarked on a long journey in a vehicle. If one is driving alone, one encounters fatigue and tends to nod off to sleep while driving--often with tragic consequences. When one is traveling with other adults, sometimes the conversation will lag. When one is traveling with fidgeting children, their constant refrain of "Are we there yet?" is maddening. For all these situations, the entertainment system of the invention is ideal to pass the time and provide entertainment for the occupants of the vehicle.